Though their time in New Mexico has come to a raucous wrap, The Lone Ranger filming rolls on in California.

Walt Disney Pictures has released these breathtaking long shots and set stills of stars Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp from the gorgeous location shoots here in NM and in UT.

Teaser-trailer dot com has published these action packed “spy” pics from the Los Angeles set.

Check-out all our coverage on the film here – Chronicling everything that’s come across our desktop, from the first rumblings, to the rocky start-up, local filming haps, right down to those shiny happy NM Wrap Party pics.

BONUS 09/06/12: Scroll way, way down for video of THE LONE RANGER AKA ARMIE HAMMER LIVE on the NM Set of TLR with James Blackburn!!!

EVEN FURTHER DOWN THE SCROLL: Raw Footage of The Lone Ranger filming near Eagles Nest, NM from August 26, 2012. Depp and Hammer in full dress as Tonto and the Lone Ranger in Train scene.

From set to stage (and everywhere in-between) Johnny Depp certainly has left his impression on NM.

Since the beginning of 2012 the inbox@oneheadlightink.com has received everything from the interesting to the outlandish by of way info. and photos swirling around the then secretive “Silver Bullet” project.

From the very first studio lot prop pics we chose to release, which made waves with some local industry insiders, to the sweet pics true fans, friends and admirers of the star shared in confidence we’ve enjoyed being taken along for the ride.

Now that Disney’s The Lone Ranger has wrapped, here are a select few, previously unreleased pics:

UPDATE 4/23/12: Depp confirms it was his eye that spotted the inspiration for his Tonto look.

I’d actually seen a painting by an artist named Kirby Sattler, and looked at the face of this warrior and thought: That’s it. The stripes down the face and across the eyes … it seemed to me like you could almost see the separate sections of the individual, if you know what I mean. There’s this very wise quarter, a very tortured and hurt section, an angry and rageful section, and a very understanding and unique side. I saw these parts, almost like dissecting a brain, these slivers of the individual. That makeup inspired me.

Jerry Bruckheimer’s official spokes-dude and media strategist duties roll on as he tweets the above dusty rails from the New Mexico desert to the world.

This week The Lone Ranger AKA Armie Hammer, opened wide on the big screen, flexing his Prince Charming with NM res. Julia Roberts in “Mirror Mirror”. In an interview with the Huff. Po. the prince turned masked man dishes on licking Roberts-Moder as a hello handshake AND spills Lone Ranger script deets:

“It’s basically going to be the genesis of the The Lone Ranger character. It involves how he sort of becomes The Lone Ranger. Where the mask comes from — you know, all those great sort of backstory questions about the character. So, yes, this movie definitely answers all of those. And then, on top of that, it’s a fantastic sort of like buddy adventure. Most of the movie is really about the relationship between The Lone Ranger and Tonto [played in the film by Johnny Depp]. And the sort of rub between these two guys: where they get along, where they don’t, where they agree, where they disagree. It’s a fun, sort of buddy adventure comedy.”

Meanwhile, nary a public werd or a hide nor hair of the elusive “Tonto” himself. Some locals have reported on him dining in the Q – otherwise nada mas except confirmation that he’s been ensconced at the studio hard at work. Helena on the other hand has been spied doing some healthful food shopping at the ABQ Uptown Trader Joe’s and she was reportedly quite lovely at airport security…

SO THEY DO GO THROUGH our local airport terminals…as we pondered here, where one of our talented friends pointed out, the Bruckheimer/Verbinski version of Tonto bears a striking resemblance to Albuquerque icon, our own Dream of Flight sculpture, as regally perched for all the incoming world to see in the Albuquerque International Airport.

In recently perusing Native American artistry we did happen across this gorgeous Kirby Sattler painting, “I am Crow”, which in reference to pop-culture looks not unlike an age progression of the aforementioned “vision” of Depp’s Tonto.

For any and all its artistic inspiration, long lived legend and contemporary star power we have high hopes for this modern day adaptation. Most especially as it is rooted right here, quite literally in our own expansive NM backyard.

Between dueling chopper shots* of a mysterious and remote set, to our own ABC** affiliate broadcasting their interview with the New Mexico extras casting director for The Lone Ranger (record scratch…aka “Silver Bullet” – worst kept secret in town btw and there’s a lot of ’em) Disney’s The Lone Ranger continues kicking-up dust in the New Mexico desert like no other production before it has.

You may recall this whole extravaganza kicked-off when this was the shoot that almost never was, but director, producer and stars alike dug in their boot heels and made it happen. Salary cuts and budget wrangling aside The Lone Ranger will likely continue to spur controversy right up until its DVD/Blu-ray™ release.

So while Marvel’s** entire crew of mighty Avengers were able to sweep in and out of town with ~less ruckus than TLR has had thus far, don’t count the masked man, his loyal sidekick or New Mexico out of the controversial headlines for the duration of filming.

Why, even our little space here on the web has been hit with a trickling trail of fury when this blogger chose to publish these pics sent in to us of some rather generic western props – leading to some healthy industry banter?

“Shame on you for posting this! Is your purpose to support the NM film industry and the local New Mexican’s [sic] it employees [sic] or are you one of the weak links in the chain that will cause what remains of the NM film industry to most certainly disappear?” – fb comment

“It must be pictures like these that drove them away from Hollywood….”
– Industry Journalist

Wielding this kind of power delusion to stir-up such controversy, perhaps this blogger can now lead the charge in the next round of TLR Escándalo:

One of the most hotly contested debates from the word “Yo” on this project was the casting of the still smoldering Johnny Depp as Tonto.

While this touch of Chinese, Mexican girl with smatterings of alleged Native American and Irish descent can appreciate the demand to cast true to race, the bigger picture on this big picture is clear, and that is that hundreds of many races now have a chance at work on this sure to be blockbuster New Mexico production (unlike this lost production – but I’m the one running film out of NM).

BUT MOREOVER – The smoking (pun intended) hot Armie Hammer, who’s cast as The Lone Ranger himself, IS NOT FROM TEXAS!

The LONE RANGER was written as a Texas cowboy qué no? Boy is from L.A. Escándaloso up!

As we’ve been telling you since last May, most definitely riding into New Mexico is our very own Lone Ranger.

THIS is Armie Hammer, the guy who’s so hot they spliced him into TWO hot guys for The Social Network.

From Student #2 in Arrested Development to his role as “Prince Charming” (what elese) in the upcoming film Mirror Mirror…also starring NM’s Own Julia Roberts, the L.A. native has been scoring role after role, before landing in the saddle as everyone’s favorite masked man.

The Lone Ranger is in pre-production now right here in New Mexico! If you’ve just arrived on the planet Armie, takes the reins alongside none other than Johnny Depp as Tonto. Film is set to roll before the month is out!

While gaggles (including yours truly) gathered at the state capitol today, to lobby to keep New Mexico film incentives not only enticing but alive, the rest of the world waits with bated breath to see the next development from the NM hosted production of Disney’s, The Lone Ranger.

Variety has pointedly eluded to a Lone Ranger production meeting going down in the Land of Enchantment, scheduled to include the film’s stars Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, this week!

This morning NM’s own Skyranger gets an aerial look at a prospective set.

UPDATE 2/2/2012: Basically the hotness that is Armie Hammer tells TMZ, “Don’t Mess With Texas!” Moreover the Lone Ranger star says he’ll fully dish on the baked goods debacle that landed him under arrest near the Mexican border last November when his 90 day gag won’t threaten his legal defenses…Ride ’em cowboy.

Lone Ranger star, Armie Hammer is due to saddle-up alongside Johnny Depp‘s Tonto within the next few weeks here in New Mexico.

Come to find out this past November The Social Network breakout spent approximately one full day in a Texas jail before posting his $1,000 bail, after a “crack” K-9 detective sniffed out the presence of marijuana in his vehicle.

According to the AP, arrest records show that Hammer had 0.02 ounces of marijuana, three medicinal marijuana cookies and one brownie when arrested Nov. 20 in Sierra Blanca, a few miles from the Mexican border (approx. 100 mi. from NM).

It is also being reported that El Paso’s district attorney will not prosecute because a felony requires more than 4 ounces of actual marijuana.

The county attorney could pursue lesser charges, since the case is going back to the local sheriff, but Hammer’s lawyer Kent Schaffer says no charges have been presented.

Hammer joins Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg in being busted on pot charges in the same Texas town.

The most trusted website on the internets (not really) is reporting that Johnny Depp will take a big pay cut to film “The Lone Ranger”.

Walt Disney Pictures has come to financial terms with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Gore Verbinski, Johnny Depp, and other key members of the cast and crew of “The Lone Ranger”. Changes include a reduction in the budget from $250 million to approximately $200 million. Filming will still take place in New Mexico, with some additional filming in Utah instead of Texas as originally planned. The film’s remaining supporting cast are still being cast in Los Angeles, and smaller speaking roles, extras, stand-ins, and photo-doubles for the film’s stars are being cast in New Mexico and Utah.

There had been a huge extras casting call scheduled in Silver City, New Mexico on August 21, 2011. Disney pulled the plug just one week before the call was to take place. The studio claimed that the budget was just too high. Director Gore Verbinski had already finalized the shooting script and signed on his lead actors, Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp – both of which would have to be paid whether the project went further or not. The Screen Actors Guild never removed “The Lone Ranger” from it’s (sic) production list, leading to speculation that this delay has been nothing more that a ploy by the studio to get the budget reduced by $50 million.

In addition to cast and crew changes, other cuts include reducing the amount of CGI effects, and vendors working on the film such as special effects houses and even hotels have agreed to accept reduced guaranteed fees in order to assure that the costs of the production remain acceptable to the studio. There was also several pricey steam locomotive train sequences that were to be in the film, but have now been cancelled to further cut costs.

MULTIPLE outlets are reporting, and Deadline gets the scoop, with “sources close to the production” saying that Disney WILL in fact ride with The Lone Ranger, including the coveted Johnny Depp as Tonto, cost-cutting director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer still on board.

The budget overhaul that’s been in the works for weeks is said to be trimmed by over $30M, opening-up the horizon for an expected early Q1 2012 production start…

…on the fate of NM’s Own Lone Ranger amid current “reports” that budget rebuilding talks are underway to commence on the production since calls for its “break-down” last week…”crew was told Wednesday night to hold off on tearing down a Western town set that had been built for the production in New Mexico”.

Disney has officially strapped-on its fancy dancin’ spurs and is really kickin’ things up something fierce.

In events reminiscent of the great (Disney née Marvel) Avengers script debacle of…well, earlier this year, reports began flooding the web (and our inbox) Friday night that the great Mouse House in the sky is saying neigh nay to the sky-high price tag on the Gore Verbinski sure to be epic version of The Lone Ranger starring the anything but cheap as he is valuable Johnny Depp and the incomparable Helena Bonham Carter (plus that doubly hot guy Armie Hammer as the masked man himself).

If a ruckus is required to balance that budget and/or to keep the already globaly amped-up buzz about this film rolling to achieve rolling tape…then we’re well on our way…Almost as soon as the PRODUCTION SHUT-DOWN NEWS hit the wires like some unholy gale force wall of New Mexico grown tumbleweeds VARIETY was quick to report that “sources close to the production” are saying whoa silver! The film “is far from dead”.

As any “skilled rider” will tell ya’ a little, “easy, easy, there big fella” can go a long way…so New Mexico may well keep hold of the mouse in our house as this story is just getting started! Giddyup!

And I say again (I’m looking at you New Mexico Tourism), let the Kid rest in peace we’ve got real life (south)western dramz hitting the global market on the regular!